Method for preparing pads for shoes



March 9, 1943. ca. 5. lLlFF 2,313,552

METHOD FOR'PREPARING PADS FOR SHOES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed March 21, 1941 650265 5. IL/FF,

I INVENTOR March 9, 1943. 5 5 I F 2,313,552

METHOD FOR PREPARING PADS FOR SHOES I Original Filed March 21, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 650265 5. .[L/FF,

INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 9, 1943 METHOD FOR PREPARING PADS FOR SHOES George S. Ilifi, Pasadena, Calif., assignor to Joyce,

Inc., Pasadena, Calif., a corporation of California Original application March 21, 1941, Serial No. 384,442. Divided and this application March 6, 1942, Serial No. 433,565

6 Claims.

This invention relates to the manufacture of shoes and particularly to a method for preparing pads to be interposed between the shoe upper and the outsole. Such pads are ordinarily made of a cushioning material such as felt, cork, sisal, fiber or other resilient composition, or rubber, and in some cases solid wood or a hard material such as wood composition, or leather, is employed in the heel portion of the pad. Such pads may have a constant thickness throughout from toe to heel, they may be made in toe portions or heel portions only, or they may be made in the form of a midscle with a built in heel raise such, for example, as described in the U. S. patent of William H. Joyce, Jr., No. 2,067,963, or a modification of that type of midsole. The pads with which I am here concerned have an edge covering of flexible leather, fabric, rubber, or other sheet material serving the double purpose of finishing and decorating the raw edges of the cushioning material or wood or hard material and serving to aid in retaining the shape of the pad and in securing it to the other associated parts of the shoe.

For the edge binding or covering, one or more strips of the selected sheet material wide enough to provide inturned edges on the upper and lower surfaces of the cushioning element or other central pad element are secured to such elements. This has previously been done either by cementing by hand or by sewing. I have found that it is desirable to both cement and sew the edge covering to such elements because the pad is subjected to severe strains and stresses in the use of the shoe. In the case of a solid wood or other hard heel section it may not be feasible'to stitch through that. but Where such a heel section is combined with a flexible toe section the stitching may be performed through the toe section and omitted through the heel section.

It is also necessary to roughen the inturned edges of the covering material if smooth or glazed, in order for cement applied thereto to stick when the pad is assembled between the upper and the outsole for the finished shoe. I have found that if such roughening is done after stitching the covering to the cushioning element, the thread used for the stitching is often broken and if as is customary a chain. stitch is used, this results in the stitching becoming loosened. On the other hand if a cement attachment only is used for securing the edge covering to the cushioning element it has been found that there is a tendency for the covering to become loosened and weaken the shoe when subjected to hard My present method is of decided advantage under circumstances Where because of War or other conditions latex cement or other suitable cement for permanently bonding the parts of the shoes together is not available or is available only in restricted quantities. In the practice of my present invention it is possible to use an inferior type of cement or a paste for preliminarily attaching the covering material to the'cushioning element or filler element of the pad, it being essential only that suflicient adhesion occurs to hold the cover element in place while it is being roughened and stitched. The stitching may be then relied upon for permanently securing the cover to the cushioning material or other pad element as next described.

I have'discovered that the ideal method for preparing a pad, and by pad I mean either a toe pad or a heel wedge or a composite of both, is to first cement or paste the edge covering to the cushioning or other pad element, next to roughen the edges of the covering overlying the top and bottom portions of the cushioning or pad elements in order to prepare them for later cementing operations, and third to reinforce the assembly by stitching the edge covering to the cushioning element, or if possible through whatever type of pad element is employed.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide a method of the character described whereby shoe pads may be prepared by first cementing or pasting edge coverings on the cushloning or filler element of the pad, then roughening the edges of the covering material where it is exposed over the upper and lower parts of the cushioning or filler element, and then stitching through the roughened portions of the covering element and the cushioning element or where feasible to Whatever character of filler element is employed, whereby the greatest unitary strength of the pad may be achieved without any liability of breaking the stitches by subsequent operations, in particular by a roughening operaticn.

This is a division of my copending application Serial No. 384,442 filed March 21, 1941, for Method and apparatus for preparing pads for shoes. In the said parent application I have claimed the apparatus and in the present application I am claiming the method.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a top plan view of a heel wiping device with a shoe pad in starting position for the wiping operation in accordance with the practice of my method.

Figure 2 is a vertical section of the same device taken on the line 22 of Figure 1 and showing the shoe pad further advanced into the device in a further step of the method.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 illustrating the shoe pad in the position it occupies at the end of the heel wiping operation when apparatus of the character illustrated for performing the method is utilized.

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the toe wiping device with the pad shown in starting position for the toe wiping operation of the method.

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view of the toe wiping device shown in Figure 4 with the pad in an advanced step of the method.

Figure 6 is a view similar t Figure 5 showing the pad at the end of the toe wiping operation.

Figure 7 is a top plan view of the device and pad shown in Figure 6 with the pad in the same position as it occupies in Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of a completed shoe pad made according to my method.

As an example of my method I will describe the preparation of a pad or midsole extending the full length of the shoe and incorporating a heel rais or lift, and employing a suitable form of apparatus for performing the method.

A cushioning or filler element I is here shown as an example in the form of a felt pad having a toe portion H of substantially constant thickness and a heel section l2 which incorporates a tapered. heel lift. It does not matter in the present invention whether the cushioning element or filler It is of a single piece or built up of two or more pieces.

A strip of sheet material |3 is used to cover the edge of the toe section II and a strip M of similar or contrasting material, as desired, is used to cover the edge of the heel section i2. One piece may be used to enclose the entire pad but it is easier to work with two. The sheet material may be flexible leather, fabric, rubber, or some other material the outer surface of which is preferabl finished in a decorative color, pattern or design. The example to which I will refer in this description is soft, flexible leather.

Cement or paste may be first applied in any desired manner around the outer edge l of the pad ill and on the marginal upper and lower surfaces of the pad extending about one-half inch in from the edge. Cement or paste should also be applied to the inner surface or" the strips l3 and M. The cement used is preferably latex although it is possible to use other kinds of adhesives which is a feature of the invention particularly important when the use of latex is restricted or prevented.

When two strips are used it is preferable to first put on and wipe in the heel strip 4.

The heel strip i4 is stretched around the heel portion H! by hand and the edges of the strip are pressed down by hand along the sides. The edges of the strip at the end of the pad are then bent over and wiped in either by hand, or by means of the heel wiper illustrated in Figures 1 to 3. This operation may be satisfactorily performed by hand but can be done more rapidly and with smoother results by the use of the heel wiper.

The heel wiper, which may be mounted on a bench or table 20, comprises a pair of upper and lower pressure members 2i and 22 faced at their anchored end by a block 23 and bolted to the table by a bolt 2% which passes through both of the pressure members and the block. Of course plates.

other suitable means of mounting the pressure members and the block may be employed.

The block 23 is preferably tapered forwardly on the upper surface as shown to provide for a converging of the pressure members 2| and. 22, by the inclination of the upper member 2|.

The pressure members 2| and 22 are rectangular plates preferably having some resiliency or spring characteristics and are suitable if made of wood, metal or any other material having the necessary qualities.

In addition to the clamping effected by the bolt 24 the pressural tension of the pressure members 2| and 22 may be adjusted by one or a pair of tensioning devices 25 which includes a bolt 26, a compression spring 21, and thumb nut 28. Other suitable forms of tensioning devices may be employed, and of course the tensioning device may be entirely omitted if the work to be done approximately fits the wiping device as assembled; or different adjustments may be obtained in a less convenient but equivalent manner by substituting blocks 23 of difierent thicknesses or with difierent tapered pitches, or both. The tension of the pressure plates should be such that the normal separation at the forward ends of the plates is slightly less than the thickness of the heel or toe to be wiped.

The pressure plates 2| and 22 are formed with similar curved openings 30 with edges which are beveled inwardly as at 3|.

The heel of the partly prepared pad as described is inserted between the forward end of the plates and pushed inwardly between the It is desirable while pushing the pad between the plates to give it a horizontal twisting motion better to draw in the edges of the covering strip I4. It will be noted that the depth and curvature of the openings 39 are such that the mouth 32 is narrower than the heel at the widest part of the heel, the effect being for the pressure plates to first engage the heel at a distance from the end.

As the heel is pushed inwardly between the pressure plates, the engagement of the edges 3| of these plates toward the forward end with the pad continues to maintain the leather strip stretched tightly around the cushioning or other pad element and at the same time wipes in the overlying edges of the strip and presses these edges substantially fiat against the upper and lower surface of the cushion or other pad element. The inclination or converging of the pressure plates will substantially follow the taper of the heel lift if the taper commences at the extreme end of the heel, and in other circumstances provides for a substantial area of contact of the pressure plates with the pad as the plates are sprung under the force of inserting the pad. Preferably the lower plate may be horizontal and the inclination all occur in the upper plate as the heel lift is normally made flat on the bottom and with a taper on the upper face.

When the heel has been wiped either by use of the apparatus described or by hand as the either by hand or employing the toe wiping device shown in Figures 4 to 7, or by employing some other suitable form of apparatus. For convenience similar reference numerals in Figures 4 to 7 identify parts similar to those in the heel wiper. The difference is in the thickness of the block 23 and the consequent separation of the pressure plates. Substantially the same steps, as described, would be performed in covering a pad or platform of constant thickness throughout except that if an apparatus such as illustrated were employed one apparatus having the proper adjustment for the thickness of the pad would be sufi'icient for wiping in both the heel and the toe sections. Moreover, as mentioned before, the edge covering may be in a single piece and the steps of the method performed in substantially the same manner, except that there would be an overlapping only on one side.

The covered midsoles are then passed on and the overlying edges of the cover roughened by any suitable means such as an abrasive wheel or wire brush.

The next step in the method is to stitch through the overlying edges and the cushioning element or filler and the completed midsole as it appears in Figure 8 is then ready to be cemented and assembled with an upper and outsole, or otherwise attached to an upper and outsole. If a solid wooden block is employed in the heel portion or lift, the stitching through that portion may be omitted.

Although I have herein shown and described my invention in what I have conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of my invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent methods.

The essence of the invention lies in the primary steps described in the order taken, it being important that the cementing and wiping in of the covering retain the covering on the cushioning or other pad element for the roughening operation, and that the roughening be done before the stitching, so that the finished pad has the covering stitched through, with roughened upper and lower surfaces, and the stitches unbroken.

The term cementing as used in the claims includes the use of latex, paste or any suitable adhesive. The term pads in the claims refers to cushioning or elevating elements either toe or heel or a combination of both.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. The method of preparing pads for shoes which comprises: cementing an edge covering of flexible sheet material to the upper and lower faces of a preformed cushioning or filler element, roughening the exposed surfaces of the covering material overlying the said upper and lower sur faces of the cushioning or filler element to prepare the said exposed surfaces for a subsequent cementing operation, and stitching through the said covering material and the cushioning element or filler.

2. The method of preparing pads for shoes which comprises: cementing an edge covering of flexible sheet material to the upper and lower marginal faces of a preformed cushioning or filler element, roughening the exposed surfaces of the covering material overlying the said upper and. lower surfaces of the cushioning or filler element to prepare the said exposed surfaces for a subsequent cementing operation, and stitching through the said covering material and the cushioning element or filler.

3. The method of preparing pads for shoes which comprises: cementing an edge covering of flexible sheet material to the edges and upper and lower faces of a preformed cushioning or,

filler element, roughening the exposed surfaces of the covering material overlying the said upper and lower surfaces of the cushioning or filler element to prepare the said exposed surfaces for a subsequent cementing operation, and stitching through the said covering material and the cushioning element or filler.

4. The method of preparing pads for shoes which comprises: cementing an edge covering of flexible sheet material to the upper and lower faces of a preformed cushioning or filler element, wiping in the said covering at the end of the pad, roughening the exposed surfaces of the covering material overlying the said upper and lower surfaces of the cushioning or filler element to prepare the said exposed surfaces for a subsequent cementing operation, and stitching through the said covering material and the cushioning element or filler.

5. The method of preparing pads for shoes which comprises: cementing an edge covering of flexible sheet material to the upper and lower marginal faces of a preformed cushioning or filler element, wiping in the said covering at the end of the pad, roughening the exposed surfaces of the covering material overlying the said upper and lower surfaces of the cushioning or filler element to prepare the said exposed surfaces for a subsequent cementing operation, and stitching through the said covering material and the cushioning element or filler.

6. The method of preparing pads for shoes which comprises: cementing an edge covering of flexible sheet material to the edges and upper and lower faces of a preformed cushioning or filler element, wiping in the said covering at the end of the pad, roughening the exposed surfaces of the covering material overlying the said upper and lower surfaces of the cushioning or filler element to prepare the said exposed surfaces for a subsequent cementing operation, and stitching through the said covering material and the cushioning element or filler.

GEORGE S. ILIFF. 

